


Two Hoods

by nepenthess



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: ?? - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Batgirl!Reader, Canon Divergence, F/M, Post-Death!Jason, Pre-Death!Jason, Red Hood - Freeform, maybe?? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 03:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16757209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nepenthess/pseuds/nepenthess
Summary: In this universe, Jason Todd is Red Hood. In another, Batgirl!Reader was the one who got taken by The Joker. I mean, they’d meet eventually… Right?





	Two Hoods

**Author's Note:**

> This is set shortly after Jason returns, and he hasn’t stopped killing yet.

Jason curses, glancing back at the two black figures leaping from building to building as they give chase. He quickens his footsteps.

He aims his gun and fires a warning shot, but Batgirl and Batman do not stop.

Even as a pain in your shoulder throbs, you keep your eyes trained on Jason, never losing focus. You would not lose him. Not this time. 

Beside you, with every step, Bruce grimaces. He’s been injured. A fairly deep cut runs from the middle of his thigh to his knee, surely making it hurt while he’s running. 

Your eyes soften. Your heart is torn between stopping now and bringing Bruce back to the Manor, and continuing to chase Jason.

_Jason,_ you think, immediately flashing back to how he’d give you that smile after taking down the bad guys on patrol, the softness of his hair, his beautiful face. . .

You still can’t believe he was back. How could someone be back from the dead? You watched his body be lowered into the ground in a coffin. You visit his grave every week, for God’s sake! And you’re sure this Jason, the Red Hood, was real. Bruce had run DNA verification tests, and it proved that that this man is your Jason. So how was he back?

But that’s a question that can be answered later. You return your attention to the more pressing matter at hand, who is still running.

You give Bruce a side-glance. The gash seems even more bloody now, and you can tell he’s in a lot more pain than what he’s showing. 

You look at Bruce, then at Jason, and you make a decision. 

You stop running, and Bruce follows suit with not much protest as he limps back to the Manor, with you as support.

You glance back at Jason, who’s just a small speck in the distance now. So much for not losing him this time.

* * *

Jason sighs in relief. Finally, the two of you were off his back. He really does want to see you smile again, to hold you in his arms again, to kiss you again, but not yet. Not before he kills the Joker, because he knows that you will try to stop him, along with Bruce. So he runs away from you. Again.

It kills him to get further away from you, after all this time, but he has to. 

He slows to a walking pace, keeping an eye out for any trouble that might be happening. Night has already fallen. Who knows who could be out stirring up trouble? Suddenly, he hears a sound that makes his hair stand on end and a chill run down his spine. 

The Joker’s laughter. 

It’s the exact same laughter he hears every night in his nightmares. It’s the exact same laughter he heard the night he died. 

The horrible noise is coming from an old, abandoned building that Jason doesn’t remember, and it looks too dilapidated to be newly-built during his absence. He quickens his pace and runs into the building, hoping to manage to save anyone that the Joker might be torturing or hurting. 

_This might be it,_ he thinks. _This might be when I finally kill him. I’ll finally be free._

A small smile makes its way onto his face.

He bursts into a random room, guns loaded, ready to attack - before falling through the floor into darkness. He yells as he falls for around 10 seconds, before he slams into solid, hard ground.

Jason groans, getting up and trying to gain his composure. His head feels like his brain has been through a blender. The sky is nearly black. Streetlights flicker on the empty roads.

Looking around, he can tell that he’s on one of Gotham’s streets - the same street where he heard the laughter. But everything seems wrong for some reason. He can’t tell what. 

He hears rustling. He immediately turns around, gripping his guns tightly, every muscle in his body tensed. “Who’s there?” He shouts, ready to spring into action.

Suddenly, someone charges out of the shadows to tackle him, but he easily dodges, twisting to grab his assailant and shove him roughly against the concrete wall.

It’s . . . Jason. Jason as Robin. Pre-death Jason Todd, but he looks older than when he died. He looks as old as the “real” Jason looks now. Strange.

Red Hood Jason stumbles backwards in shock. “I - you - it can’t be.” How can be it possible that there are two of him? Is he a clone? Is he himself the clone? Was he somehow in a different world?

The other Jason, Robin Jason, scowls at Red Hood Jason. “Where is she? Who are you?” He spits.

“Where is who?”

“Don’t try to pretend. You wear the same helmet and you carry the same guns. Where is she, and who the hell are you?”

“I’m...you.”

Robin Jason rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right, and I’m Shakespeare.”

Red Hood Jason shakes his head. “You don’t understand.” He takes off his helmet, and stares straight at the other Jason. “I am you.”

Robin Jason is visibly shocked. Underneath his mask, his eyes widen. “What the hell… Is this some kind of joke? Where did you come from? Are you a clone?”

“I wish this was a joke, and I just ran into that building -” he pointed towards the run-down building, “- then I was falling, and I ended up here somehow, and met you. And I’m very sure I’m not a clone.”

The other Jason hesitates, before saying, “Do you … know about the other Red Hood?”

Red Hood Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “There’s another Red Hood here?”

“Yeah.” He swallows, and his voice lowers to a whisper. “Her name is Y/N L/N.”

Jason’s heart stops. If this is an alternate universe, does that mean that you are Red Hood, and he continued to be Robin?

“What happened to Y/N?”

“The Joker took her. She died in an explosion after she was … tortured. Now she’s back, and - I don’t know how.” Robin Jason swallows hard. 

“I do. If I’m correct, the same thing happened to me, in a different universe.” Red Hood Jason sighs deeply. “I guess to find out we’ll have to get back to the Manor.”

“Yeah. We do.”

* * *

“Unfortunately, you seem to be speaking the truth. About the strange building, the Lazarus Pit, The Joker…Our two universes have collided, and now there’s going to be a big mess.” Bruce massages his temples, staring plainly at Red Hood Jason, who has taken his helmet off and is now fiddling with it in his hands.

Jason butts in. “So, if I was taken instead of Y/N, I would be like … you?” His eyes flit from the other Jason’s trauma streak, to his brown leather jacket, and then to the weapons on the table.

His attention lingers on the guns, seeming mildly interested but more disapproving. Bruce, especially, makes sure to glare at Jason’s weapons, which makes him want to grab them and shove them in his jacket.

“Master Bruce, would you like me to prepare a room for the second Master Jason?” Alfred asks, glancing in between the three superheroes. 

“Yes.” Bruce says, before turning to Red Hood Jason. “Get some rest. I have a feeling you’ll be useful in the search for Y/N.” After saying this, he turns back to his work and begins typing something on the computer. 

“Master Jason? Right this way.” Alfred leads Jason to a guest room that is mostly empty, except for a bed, a wardrobe, a table, and a bookshelf stacked full with books. 

Jason smiles upon seeing it, turning to Alfred and thanking him. Alfred simply nods, a hint of a smile on his face, and takes his leave. 

Jason grabs a book, strips down to his underwear, and settles into the bed. He reads until he falls asleep, and his dreams are plagued with nightmares of you getting tortured by the Joker, just like how he was.

The next day, he shuffles into the kitchen to find the other Jason already in full uniform, chowing down on some pancakes. He takes a seat next to him, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Today he will hopefully find you. He can’t just let you be Red Hood and be burdened with all that blood on your hands, and with all the horrible things you have to face. 

He can’t allow you to be alone, because he knows exactly how that feels, since he faces the terrible feeling of aloneness every day. Well, except today. 

“Breakfast, Master Jason?” Alfred inquires. Robin Jason’s head shoots up when he hears his name, then he mutters, “Oh, right,” and returns to his food. Red Hood Jason nods and says, “Just coffee, please.” 

He’s missed this. Sitting at the breakfast counter, chatting with Alfred or just enjoying his meal in comfortable silence. Just being in this Manor brings back both good and bad memories that make his heart throb and skip.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to go back. Go back to the Manor, and see you. Bruce would be there too, but it would be worth it, if he got to hold you again. 

But who’s to say that Jason isn’t stuck here forever? He’s in a different universe, with no plan on how to go back to his own universe. It made his brain hurt just thinking about it. 

He was going to help you first, he decided. He had to put you before himself, because you simply mattered more. So after he managed to find you and convince you to go back to the Manor and stay with them so you could heal mentally, then he would try to find a way out of this universe. 

After breakfast, Robin and Batman follow Jason to the hideout he uses back in his own universe.  
Theoretically, you would be at the same place, right? 

The three men bust into the seemingly-abandoned warehouse, where they find you lying on the floor, seemingly sleeping. Hearing the noise, you wake, tensing and grabbing your guns as you stagger to your feet. “Stay away!” You snarl, still disoriented after waking up. 

“Y/N, put down the guns.” Bruce intones. 

“How did you find me?” You demand, voice softening slightly as your eyes linger on Robin. 

“We had help.” Batman gestures to Red Hood, who takes off his helmet. 

You squint, glancing back and forth at Robin and Red Hood. “Jason? Why are there two of you?” 

“He’s from another universe. An alternate one, where Jason was killed instead of you. We know how you’re alive, Y/N. We know how to help.” Robin says, staring at Y/N intently. 

Y/N hesitates. “No,” she says finally. “The only way you can help me is to stay out of the way when I kill the Joker.”

She stares at the three heroes in front of her, pain evident in her eyes. “I need this. Gotham needs this. He won’t hurt any more people after he’s dead.” 

Red Hood speaks up. “Please don’t do this to yourself. I know exactly how you’re feeling, and it fucking sucks. You don’t deserve to go through it alone.” 

He reaches his hand out to you. “You don’t deserve any of this.” Jason maintains eye contact with you. 

You stare at his hand for a few seconds, and eyes flickering between all of them, you back away and slide your guns on a nearby table. “I - I don’t -” You stutter, unsure. 

“Please,” Robin pleads. “We can help. We understand.” 

“No, you don’t.” You voice shakes. 

“He doesn’t, but I do.” Red Hood shakes his head. “I told you already. I understand completely because I went through the same thing.” 

Jason feels like a hypocrite. He’s basically telling you to let go of your vengeance and stop killing, while he’s doing the exact same thing back in his universe. 

“Come home, Y/N,” Bruce asks softly. “If not for me, then for Dick. For Alfred. For Jason.” 

After a tense moment of silence, you finally cave, tears gathering in your eyes. “Alright, I will.” You step forward, looking down at your feet. 

Hearing this, Robin beams - a wide, toothy grin - and tackles you in a hug, wiping your tears away before leaning in and kissing you deeply. 

You pull away after a while, giggling and muttering, “I have morning breath, Jason,” and him just still smiling and saying “I missed you so much” over and over again. 

As the other Jason watches on, his heart yearns for his Y/N, the Y/N back home. Seeing how this universe’s Jason and Y/N reunited only makes him all the more wistful, and he decides to let go of his revenge, at least for now. 

He needs to get back home. He needs to see you.

* * *

“Okay, the spell might not send you back to your original universe, so let’s just hope for the best and well, if you end up in another universe, I’m sure there’ll be another of me there,” Zatanna says, trying to lighten the mood, a tentative smile on her face. “Just tell me when you’re ready to go.” 

Jason nods, turning to the other Jason, who has Y/N wrapped protectively in his arms. “Take care of her.” He says, and to Y/N, “Take care of him. We can be a dumbass sometimes,” Jason offers, and you smile. 

“I will,” You promise, smiling. “I hope you can get back to the other me.” 

Jason smiles back, and with a nod at Bruce, he gets ready. Zatanna opens a shimmering, swirling portal, and he jumps in with a single leap. 

And he’s falling, falling, falling … 

He hits the ground with a solid thud, groaning as he gets up. It’s morning here, and the streets look about as Gotham as you can get, but is it his universe? 

“Jason?” 

He hears a voice. Your voice. He turns, and sees you in civvies, staring at him warily and inching forward. “I haven’t seen you in days, what happened to you?”

Jason rushes forward, scoops you up, and kisses you so suddenly and passionately you’re out of breath. You break away, eyes wide. Jason grins, heart fluttering. “I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”

“What was that for?” You ask, flustered and trying to catch your breath. 

“Making up for lost time. Do you want to go back to the Manor? I have a lot of things to explain.” Jason offers his hand to you, and you take it without hesitation.

“C’mon, let’s go.” He pulls you close to him, and you two walk hand-in-hand, all the way back.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading :) feel free to drop a comment below or kudos if you liked this   
> have a lovely day ahead :3


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